Junk-market door as a desk/table/streetdoor

Made from a door found at a outdoor market in Modena, the table is outfitted with a custom steel frame and new hinges that enable the shutters to open and close at will. When flat, the table can accommodate up to 8 diners, while lifting the back panel open reveals an instant-work desk, complete with rawhide pockets to hold your empty leather-bound sketchbooks and drawers to keep that super 8 camera you’re planning to restore (never going to happen). In the words of the makers, “it’s a table, it’s a desk, it’s a streetdoor.” When it’s time for dinner just lower the top half and lock up.

Hey sillypants thats not a super-8 camera thats a twin lens reflex medium format camera. Probably a rolleiflex or some similar brand. Unlike super 8 film cameras, many people still use the old twin lens reflex for its high image quality (120mm film size) and the lack of an intrusively loud mirror slap you get from an SLR.

My husband made something similar, but his is made from a solid door without the shutters/hinges. He also took a second door and sawed it in half to make the legs, which I think is nicer than the steel frame here.

I saw this a couple weeks ago, I think, and like many things you come across on Tumblr it looks fantastic (great aesthetic sensibility) but doesn’t hold up to scrutiny.

As a multifunctional item it’s massively impractical. The camera would get crushed and the lamp destroyed and your stuff would fall out of the pockets if you decided to flip it down to have dinner and were a bit absent-minded, and if you just leave it in desk mode all the time then you’ve got a big gaping hole where more desk would be greatly desired.

But – it’s still cool and if nothing else it does inspire one to make tables out of doors. Although I suspect the junk-market door supply outside of Italy is not quite so charming.

I’ve often used a door laid across two file cabinets as a desk. Done cheaply, it’s ugly but modular furniture, which is great for college dorms. Done well (custom-sized shelves or deep cabinets in matching wood, etc) it can be an attractive way to upcycle desks. And before desks came standard with cable holes in them, the hole where the doorknob was could be put to great use by computer or lamp cables.

I’m a custom builder / designer and I came across this a few weeks ago.
I am building a couple different prototypes of a similar design for different customers who fell in love with this desk. I will be using only salvaged and FSC-certified woods (extremely difficult finding vintage doors of the right size). If anybody is interested, message me on facebook: Matthew Stoltz, Stanford c/o 2008